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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > Wheels and Tires Forum Sponsored by The Tire Rack > RFT vs. Non-RFT



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      06-27-2012, 09:27 PM   #1
iamkaotic
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RFT vs. Non-RFT

Just wanted to share my story with you guys, and how the problem resolved itself over the last few months.

In April, I needed to get some tires, and ordered Continental extreme contact DW. I don't drive my 335is too much, and not barely on the highway, so at first, I didn't notice any slow response, or weird turn-in feeling. When I did get the car on the HWY, you could definitely feel the slow responsiveness and almost delayed feeling in the car. I though it was something with the suspension, and took it to the dealer where I had the tires put on.

After they had the car for a few days, and checked out the suspension components, they told me the feeling disappeared when they tested the car with RFT's. Being skeptical, I asked to drive the car with RFT's back on, and it felt as good as the day I purchased the car.

So I know there are lots of threads that talk about how the car may handle with non-RFT's, but as I mentioned, I just wanted to share my story for another reference point for anyone going through this issue.

I am happy to be back on RFT's and my car handling just how it's supposed to
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      06-28-2012, 12:30 AM   #2
driverman
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What you experienced is typical when going from RFT to non-RFT, especially with the Conti DW's. There are a few reasons for this:

- new tires always feel softer
- RFT's have much stiffer sidewalls
- new tires need around 500 miles to barely break-in
- the DW's are especially soft until they have a few thousand miles on them

The Michelin PSS's would have felt better than the DW's. I've had OEM RFT's, PS2's and DW's. I increased the pressure in the DW's for the first few thousand miles and that helped. But in the beginning, I seriously considered going back to the RFT's. Michelin doesn't make PSS in the sizes I need.
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      06-28-2012, 01:47 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by driverman View Post
What you experienced is typical when going from RFT to non-RFT, especially with the Conti DW's. There are a few reasons for this:

- new tires always feel softer
- RFT's have much stiffer sidewalls
- new tires need around 500 miles to barely break-in
- the DW's are especially soft until they have a few thousand miles on them

The Michelin PSS's would have felt better than the DW's. I've had OEM RFT's, PS2's and DW's. I increased the pressure in the DW's for the first few thousand miles and that helped. But in the beginning, I seriously considered going back to the RFT's. Michelin doesn't make PSS in the sizes I need.
+1

I switched to DW and have a few thousand miles on them. The feeling is still soft on turn in.

If I had to do it again, I would have purchased different tires... I just couldn't afford the PS2s and didn't have the PSS at that time...
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      06-28-2012, 06:52 AM   #4
iamkaotic
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Next go-around, I'll see again about switching to non-RFT's again, but was very surprised at how differently the car handled. Do the PS2's or PSS's alter the handling characteristics much?
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      06-28-2012, 08:17 AM   #5
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also with non rfts it was suggested to me to go for the XL rating (extra load) as these have stiffer walls
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